Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 138

See PASTRY, &c.

=PIG.= The pig or hog (_Sus scrofa_--Linn.), one of the common pachydermata, is now domesticated in all the temperate climates of the world. Its flesh const.i.tutes pork, bacon, ham, &c.; its fat (lard) is officinal in the Pharmacopias. The skin, bristles, and even the blood and intestines of this animal, are either eaten as food or turned to some useful purpose in the arts. See PORK, LEATHER, &c.

=PIG'MENTS.= These are noticed under the _respective colours_.

=PIG-STYE.= In order that a pig-stye may not become a nuisance and a danger to health it is essential that the liquid excrement of the pig should be carried off by means of an effective and well-covered drain, and that the solid matters should be frequently removed.

Should it come to the knowledge of the sanitary inspector of the district that a pig-stye is deficient in this particular, the inspector has power to compel the owner of the stye to construct proper drainage.

Urban authorities have full powers in the matter of pig-styes, since under section 26 of the Public Health Act it is enacted "that the owner of any swine or pig-stye kept in a dwelling-house, or so as to be a nuisance to any person, is liable to a penalty of 40_s._ or less, and to a further penalty (if the offence is continued) of 5_s._ a day. The authority can also, if they choose, abate the nuisance themselves, and recover the expenses of such action from the occupier of the premises in a summary manner.

A rural authority has power to deal with the matter under provision 3, section 91, of the Public Health Act, which defines as a nuisance "any animal so kept as to be a nuisance or injurious to health."

=PIKE.= The _Esox lucius_ (Linn.), a fresh-water fish. It is remarkable for its voracity, but is highly esteemed by epicures. Various parts of it were formerly used in medicine. The fat (OLEUM LUCII PISCIS) was one of the simples of the Ph. L. of 1618, and was esteemed as a friction in catarrhs. It is even now used in some parts of Europe to disperse opacities of the cornea.

=PIL'CHARD.= The _Clupea pilchardus_, a fish closely resembling the common herring, than which, however, it is smaller, but thicker and rounder and more oily. It abounds on the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, where it is not only consumed as food, but pressed for its oil.

=PILES.= _Syn._ HEMORRHOIDS; HaeMORRHOIDES, L. A painful disease occasioned by the morbid dilatations of the veins at the lower part of the r.e.c.t.u.m and surrounding the a.n.u.s.

Piles are princ.i.p.ally occasioned by costiveness and cold; and, occasionally, by the use of acrid food. They have been distinguished into--BLIND PILES, or a varicose state of the veins without bleeding,--MUCOUS PILES, when the tumours are excoriated, and mucus or pus is discharged,--BLEEDING PILES, when accompanied with loss of blood, and--EXCRESCENTIAL PILES, when there are loose fleshy excrescences about the verge of the a.n.u.s and within the r.e.c.t.u.m.

The treatment of piles consists in the administration of mild aperients, as castor oil, or an electuary of sulphur and cream of tartar. When there is much inflammation or bleeding, cold and astringent lotions, as those of sulphate of zinc or alum, should be applied; and when the pain is considerable, fomentations of decoction of poppy heads may be used with advantage. To arrest the bleeding, ice is also frequently applied, but continued pressure is more certain. When the tumours are large and flaccid, the compound ointment of galls is an excellent application; and if there is a tendency to inflammation, a little liquor of diacetate of lead may be added. In confirmed piles the internal use of copaiba, or, still better, of the confection of black pepper, should be persevered in for some time, together with local applications. In severe cases the protruded tumours are removed by surgeons, by the knife or ligature. See OINTMENTS, ELECTUARIES, &c.

=PILL COCHIA.= See COMPOUND COLOCYNTH PILLS (_below_).

=PILL RUFI.= See PILLS OF ALOES WITH MYRRH (_below_).

=PILLS.= _Syn._ PILULae (Ph. E. & D.), PILULA (Ph. L.), L.; PILULES, SACCHAROLeS SOLIDES, Fr. Pills are little b.a.l.l.s, of a semi-solid consistence, composed of various medicinal substances, and intended to be taken whole. The facility with which they are made and administered, their comparatively little taste, their power of preserving their properties for a considerable length of time, and, lastly, their portability and inexpensiveness, have long rendered them the most frequently employed and the most popular form of medicine.

The rapid and skilful preparation of pills, from all the numerous substances of which they are composed, is justly considered to demand the highest qualifications in the practical dispenser. The medicinals employed must be made into a consistent and moderately firm ma.s.s, sufficiently plastic to be rolled or moulded into any shape, without adhering to the fingers, knife, or slab, and yet sufficiently solid to retain the globular form when divided into pills. A few substances, as certain extracts, &c., are already in this condition; but the others require the use of an excipient to give them the requisite bulk or consistence. As a general rule, all the const.i.tuents of a pill which can be pulverised should be reduced to fine powder before mixing them with the soft ingredients which enter into its composition; and these last, or the excipient, should next be gradually added, and the mixture triturated and beaten until the whole forms a perfectly h.o.m.ogeneous ma.s.s. It is then ready to be divided into pills. This is effected by rolling it on a slab, with a pill or bolus knife, into small pipes or cylinders, then dividing these into pieces of the requisite weight; and, lastly, rolling them between the thumb and finger to give them a globular form. A little powdered liquorice-root or starch is commonly employed to prevent the pills adhering to the fingers, or to each other, after they are made. Magnesia, so frequently used for this purpose, is unsuited for pills containing metallic salts or the alkaloids, or other remedies, which are exhibited in very small doses.

Instead of forming the ma.s.s into pills by hand, in the manner just referred to, a convenient and simple instrument, called a 'pill-machine,'

is now generally used by the druggists for the purpose. This consists of two pieces. The first (see fig. 1) is divided into three compartments:--_c_ is a vacant s.p.a.ce to receive the divided ma.s.s, which is to be rolled into pills:--_b_ is a grooved bra.s.s plate, which a.s.sists in dividing the ma.s.s into pills; and _a_ is a box for containing the powder for covering the pills, and to receive them as they are formed. The second (see fig. 2) consists of a bra.s.s plate (_a_), grooved to match the plate _b_ in fig. 1, and bounded at both ends by movable projecting plates (_b_ _b_), containing each two wheels under the ledge of the plate (_b_); and a wooden back (_c_), with two handles (_d_ _d_), to which this plate is affixed. In using this machine, the pill-ma.s.s is rolled into a cylindrical form on the front part of it, by means of fig. 2 inverted; the small roll is then laid on the cutting part of the instrument (1, _b_), and divided by pa.s.sing fig. 2 over it, the little wheels enabling the latter to run easily on the bra.s.s plate which forms the margin of the bed of the machine. The pills, thus formed, are then drawn forward on to the smooth bed on which the ma.s.s was first rolled, and receiving a finis.h.i.+ng turn or two with the smooth side of the 'cutter,' by which they are rendered more nearly spherical. They are, lastly, thrown over into 1, _c_, ready to be transferred to the pill-box.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.]

The nature of the excipient should be suited to that of the active ingredients in pills, as well as in all other forms of medicine.

Furthermore, it should be of such a nature "that," to quote Dr Redwood, "it will modify as little as possible the action of the pills, either by causing them to become hard, or in any other way, and will not unnecessarily or inconveniently increase their size." Soft extracts, and other substances of a like character, may be rendered more consistent by the addition of any simple powder, as that of liquorice or sugar.

Vegetable powders are generally beaten up with syrup or treacle, and heavy powders with conserve of roses or extract of liquorice. Castile soap (made of olive oil and soda) and medicinal soft soap (made of olive oil and potash) are commonly employed for fatty and resinous matters, as well as for many others which are not decomposed by alkalies. When the chief ingredient of the ma.s.s is resin, rectified spirit is frequently used to soften it, either with or without the addition of soap to increase its solubility in the stomach. For many substances no excipient is required.

Thus, most of the gum-resins and stiff extracts may be at once made into pills, or, at all events, after being slightly softened by heat. Mucilage, formerly so much used in the preparation of pills, is now only employed for those which are to be taken within a day or two after being made; as pills containing it become so hard and insoluble when kept for some time as to resist the action of the stomach, and frequently to pa.s.s through the bowels without even losing their form. Glycerin, as well as a mixture of glycerin and tragacanth made into a paste of proper consistence, are also employed as pill-excipients.

The use of glycerin as a pill-excipient has been advocated on account of its generally neutral properties, and also because its subst.i.tution for syrup, the conserves of roses, treacle, and such like substances, results in the production of a pill of smaller bulk. It seems to be suited for pills containing chemical substances, such as quinine, tannic acid, &c. It is said, however, to possess the disadvantage of making the pills moist on their surfaces. To obviate as much as possible this inconvenience, and to provide an absorbent for the superfluous moisture, Mr Martendale, an experienced pharmacist, recommends the employment of a mixture of glycerin and flour, of which he writes as follows:--"By stirring constantly and heating together until a temperature of about 240 F. is reached, 5 parts of glycerin by weight, and 1 part of flour, a firm adhesive paste is formed, which I shall call glycerin ma.s.s. As an excipient for vegetable powder it answers well, and for other substances on which it can exert a partially solvent action it is eminently useful. Among these are such salts as valerianate of zinc, 4 gr., which with 1 of the glycerin ma.s.s forms a good pill.

Quinine, 3 parts, with 1 of the glycerin ma.s.s, P. B. strength, works well.

Compound powder of ipecacuanha, 5 gr., with 3/4 gr. of the ma.s.s, makes a good pill. Oxide of zinc, too, 4 gr. with 1, makes a good ma.s.s.

But for most mineral and insoluble powders it is too moist, and will not form with them a firm ma.s.s; some additional absorbent is necessary, and for this purpose I found nothing better than flour; equal parts of the glycerin ma.s.s and flour form a tolerably firm, solid, adhesive paste, somewhat resembling dough, but it is not so elastic; this I call bread ma.s.s. It possesses great capacity for the absorption of insoluble powders, such, for example, as calomel (3 gr. with 1-1/2 gr. of this ma.s.s makes a good pill), nitrate and carbonate of bis.m.u.th, a.r.s.enic, &c. Of reduced iron, 3 parts with 2 of it, form a good ma.s.s, in which the iron is not liable to oxidation. Carbolic acid, too, of which it is a good solvent, is readily made into a pill with the bread ma.s.s, a little additional flour being necessary for this substance. Then again, substances which are given in minute doses, as the salts of morphia, resin of podophyllum, and other active principles to partially dilute their action, or where an excipient is needed to partially increase the bulk of the pill, it is well adapted for use. And among the official pill ma.s.ses an equal quant.i.ty of it can with great advantage be used to supplant confection of roses in all these, with the exception of pilula aloes c.u.m ferro, for which the glycerin ma.s.ses is needed, and pilula ferri carbonatis. This, too, requires the glycerin ma.s.s, with which it mixes well, but after a time the pills have a tendency to become moist. Mercurial pill I have not tried with it. The same quant.i.ty of this bread ma.s.s will replace the treacle in pilula scillae composita. Equal parts of it and powdered soap, in place of powdered soap alone (if this might be permitted), form a much better ma.s.s than the official one of pilula saponis composita.

This pill ma.s.s, made strictly according to the Pharmacopia, soon becomes set into a condition resembling a piece of soap, in which state much beating is necessary to make it again plastic.

Of the glycerin ma.s.s to be added to the Pharmacopia quant.i.ties of--

Pil. cambogiae comp. (_vice_ syrup), 1 oz., makes a good ma.s.s.

Pil. colocynth comp. (_vice_ water), 3 dr., makes a good ma.s.s, and does not get so hard.

Pil. hydrarg. subchlor. comp. (_vice_ castor oil), 1-1/2 oz., makes a good ma.s.s, but becomes slightly moist.

Pil. ipecac. c.u.m scilla (_vice_ treacle), 1 oz., makes a good ma.s.s, which does not crumble.

Pil. rhei comp. (_vice_ 4 oz. of treacle), 2 oz., makes a good ma.s.s, and keeps tolerably plastic.

Among the other official pill ma.s.ses which I have not tried with these excipients are pilula colocynthidis et hyoscyamic and pilula conii composita. These I find do not generally require any excipient, and pilula ferri iodidi, the starch contained in the flour, with that would not form an elegant preparation.

_Nitrate of silver_ is generally recommended in works on materia medica to be made into a pill with bread crumb, but this contains common salt, with which it is incompatible. I recommend the following formula, which is a modification of the bread ma.s.s:--

? Nitrate of silver 6 gr.

Distilled water 6 minims.

Dissolve, and add-- Glycerin ma.s.s 12 gr.

Flour 24 gr.

Mix to form a ma.s.s which may be divided into 2 gr. pills, each containing 1/4 gr. of nitrate of silver. The ma.s.s rolls out well. Keep them from exposure to the air and light.

For _Perchloride of Mercury_ Pills:--

? Perchloride of mercury 6 gr.

Distilled water 48 minims.

Heat in a test-tube till dissolved, and add to it--

Glycerin ma.s.s 48 gr.

Flour 96 "

Mix well, and divide into 96 2-gr. pills, each of which will contain a sixteenth of a grain of perchloride of mercury.

Substances like nitrate of silver and perchloride of mercury may form different combinations with the alb.u.minoid principles contained in the flour, but in such state they will probably be quite as readily a.s.similated, and have a similar medicinal action, as physiologists affirm that most metallic substances enter into the blood as alb.u.minates. I have had some fear lest the gluten contained in the flour might favour some decomposition similar to fermentation, but such, from nearly two years'

use of them, I have never yet seen take place; the glycerin seems to check anything of the kind.

The crude gluten obtained in the moist condition from flour I find is nearly entirely soluble in glycerin, the solution does not appear to undergo any change when kept.

A mixture of glycerin and tragacanth is often used, and produces very similar results to those I have obtained from the glycerin ma.s.s. I have not had much experience with such a mixture, but I find it makes a more elastic paste, which is often a disadvantage, as it causes the pills to have a certain amount of springiness, and renders them difficult to form perfectly globular.

For dried sulphate of iron, of which a large quant.i.ty is sometimes ordered in a pill, I find syrup the best excipient. By this means 5 grains of this can be thus made into a pill.[106]

[Footnote 106: 'Pharmaceutical Year Book.']

It may be further remarked, that no deliquescent salt should enter into the composition of pills not intended for immediate use; and that when efflorescent salts are so employed they should be first freed from their water of crystallisation.

When the mixed ingredients are made into a ma.s.s (pill-ma.s.s), which it is not intended at once to divide into pills, it should be preserved in a piece of bladder or gut-skin placed in a covered stoneware or earthenware pot. In this state it may be occasionally moistened with a little weak spirit to prevent its getting hard.